Day 74 in the NICU- November 11, 2012

Avery had a good day today. They changed her back to the nasal cannula! They also increased her feedings to 35ml every 3 hours. They said they are going to try to bottle feed her again starting on Monday. Avery got to be held by Daddy today.

 

I'm so happy without the cpap on!

 

Daddy was so relaxed (or exhausted) when holding me today that he fell asleep.

Day 73 in the NICU- November 10, 2012

Avery had a pretty good day today, much better than yesterday. They decreased the flow on her cpap to 3 and she is still at 21% oxygen. She also gained an ounce and is now 4 lbs 2 oz. They did repeat her bloodwork this morning and everything came back normal. They said they might switch her back to the nasal cannula in the next couple of days.

 

Mommy told me it makes her day when she gets to hold me.

 

Look at me making Mommy happy.

 

I am so cute when I am sleeping.

 

The camera adds 10 oz.

Day 72 in the NICU- November 9, 2012

Avery had a rough night. They said she was desatting a lot and was very slow bringing her oxygen levels back up. They also said she had two bradys. They decided to go ahead and put her back on cpap. They started off at 30% oxygen and when I went to visit during lunch, she was back down to 21%(room air). Tim went to visit her this evening and they said she had a much better day than night. Neither of us held her today because we thought it was best to let her rest.

I was sleeping peacefully when Mommy came to see me this afternoon.

 

I was wide awake when Daddy came to see me tonight. Look at my chubby cheeks!

Day 71 in the NICU- November 8, 2012

Avery had a good day today. They took out her IV and restarted her feeds overnight. She is soooo close to 4 pounds..3 lbs 15 oz! They placed a mobile above her crib. The nurse said Avery was wide awake during hands on and the nurse played the music on the mobile. She said Avery kept trying to figure out where the sound was coming from. She is back on 21% oxygen (room air).

Where is that music coming from?

 

 

 I am all comfy and snuggled up in my cute purple jammies.

Day 70 in the NICU- November 7, 2012

Avery had a rough day today. She did well being in the crib and was able to maintain her body temperature. She received her vaccinations yesterday and had an eye exam today. The eye exam was normal. She had a lot of desats today. When I was there her pulse ox went down to 15 and its supposed to be in the 90's. She actually turned blue and I started to run and get the nurse and it came back up and she regained her color. It was actually quite frightening. She then had a 7ml green aspirate from her stomach. They said that the vaccinations could cause this and also the drops they use to dilate her eyes can cause her metabolism to slow down. They decided to hold off on her formula and gave her an IV. She still had the IV when we left at 9 tonight.  She was definitely looking more comfortable and not desatting as much as she was this afternoon.

 

I'm a really little girl in such a big bed!

 

Here's a picture of my chunky legs with my new IV :(

 

Daddy got to hold me today even though I wasn't having a great day.

 

Here's a close up. My eyes are puffy from crying and being upset the whole day.

Day 69 in the NICU- November 6, 2012

Today the Nurse Practioner asked me if it was okay to give Avery her two month vaccinations now that she is two months old. I heard babies tend to have a lot of bradys after receiving their injections. Hopefully she will do well. Big news today. The nurse told me that they were going to put Avery in a big girl bed at 2pm! I was there on my lunch break but couldn't stay until 2 so I will have to see her tomorrow. It was very cute because the nurse was very excited for her. She went up to each nurse and said "Guess what?" and then she would say "Avery is moving into a big girl bed today!" She was super excited.

 

This might be my last day in an isolette!

 

Here is my new crib, waiting outside my room for me. I can't wait to try it out!

Day 68 in the NICU- November 5, 2012

I walked into Avery's room and was told by Physical Therapy/Occupational Therapy that they just tried bottle feeding her. I was so excited even though she didn't do very well. They did say that it takes most babies awhile to catch on. They are using what's called a Haberman bottle. I don't know much about it besides that she doesn't need to suck in order to get milk/formula from it. She applies a little pressure with her tongue or gums and the pressure causes some milk to release. You can read more about it here...  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haberman_Feeder

Avery is getting 32 ml of formula a day. She is still 3 lbs 12 oz and is now 16 inches long!

These are the bottles that they are trying to feed me with (it is taken apart in the picture because it was just washed)

 

I was sleeping so comfortably this afternoon.

 

I was wide awake when Daddy came to visit me tonight.